When friends come over for diner, I always feel some pressure for the diner to be good and original. I feel that it is a great opportunity to make discover « my cuisine » in another way than through my pictures. I can show to friends who are a bit doubtful regarding « vegan meatballs » for instance, that my first goal is to make them delicious. Then « my food » just happens to be healthy, often vegetarian, sometimes vegan, organic and seasonal. As a consequence, I usually opt for a classic dinner like sweet potato fries, a risotto, oven-baked veggies or sometimes salmon papillotes, in order to reduce the risk linked to a less experimented recipe. Last Saturday, we had friends over who come quite regularly and I felt I wanted to do something totally new. So I tested 2 recipes beforehand and I put them together. I had made the vegan meatballs the day before (greatly validated, the recipe for vegan spaghettis bolognaise is available here), I only had to try the broccoli pesto a couple of hours before dinner and adapt accordingly. Here’s how to make the quinoa with broccoli pesto and feta (without the meatballs).

I N G R E D I E N T S

makes 8 servings

480 g quinoa

2 bouquets de broccoli

3 garlic cloves (for a very garlic-y pesto, you can use less)

1 handful cashew nuts

1 large handful almonds

90 g parmesan

2 pinches of salt

1 thick sheep yoghurt

2 tbsp lemon juice

6 tbsp olive oil

Topping: feta, parsley, gomasio

M E T H O D

In a casserole, boil the broccoli for 5-19 minutes in salted boiling water. Remove from heat, pour out the water and let cool off.

Before mixing everything together, cut the garlic, the almonds and the cashew nuts in pieces and pour them in your food processor. Add in half the broccoli, the parmesan, salt, the yoghurt, the lemon juice and the olive oil. Blend altogether until you reach a creamy pesto texture.

Cook the quinoa and one volume of water. Once the quinoa is ready, prepare the plates. Pour one portion of quinoa and the boiled broccoli and mix together. Add a generous dollop of broccoli pesto and sprinkle with parsley, gomasio and add a piece of feta. Do the same for the other plates and serve.